Gaming machines which provide players awards in primary or base games are well known. Gaming machines generally require the player to place or make a wager to activate the primary or base game. Known slot gaming device includes a plurality of reels and one or more paylines. Such known gaming devices typically include a suitable number of reels, such as three to five reels, which each display a suitable number of symbols per reel, such as three symbols per reel, wherein each reel includes one symbol displayed in each of a plurality of symbol positions on that reel. Such gaming devices may have one, three, five, nine, fifteen, twenty-five or any other suitable number of paylines which are horizontal, vertical, diagonal or any combination thereof.
In certain known slot gaming machines, upon placing one or more wagers, the reels spin to generate a plurality of symbols and the gaming device analyzes the generated symbols to determine if the gaming device has randomly generated a winning symbol or winning symbol combination on or along one or more of the wagered on paylines. Any awards associated with any generated winning symbols or winning symbol combinations generated along any wagered on paylines are provided to the player. Alternatively, any awards associated with any winning symbols or winning symbol combinations that are generated anywhere on a wagered on payline (i.e., a line scatter pay) or anywhere on the reels (i.e., a reel scatter pay) are provided to the player.
In these known gaming machines, the amount of the wager made on the base game by the player may vary. For instance, the gaming machine may enable the player to wager a minimum number of credits, such as one credit (e.g., one penny, nickel, dime, quarter or dollar) up to a maximum number of credits, such as five credits. In one known slot gaming device, the player wagers on a number or combination of paylines, such as one, two, three, five, ten or fifteen paylines. Thus, it is known that a gaming machine, such as a slot game, may enable players to make wagers of substantially different amounts on each play of the primary or base game ranging, for example, from 1 credit up to 125 credits (e.g., 5 credits on each of 25 separate paylines). Accordingly, it should be appreciated that different players play at substantially different wagering amounts or levels and at substantially different rates of play.
One problem for certain players is that multiple payline reel games become less volatile with each additional payline wagered on. Game designers typically provide lower payouts to compensate for more frequent occurrences of winning symbol combinations that result in an award to the player. Some players want increased volatility to maintain large payouts, but also want to wager on every payline for the most opportunities to win an award.
Symbol stacking in a reel game is also known. Symbol stacking is implemented by forming stacks of identical symbols on a single reel. The stacks of symbols are formed by placing a plurality of identical symbols adjacent to each other on a single reel of a reel gaming machine. The identical symbols on the same single reel are adjacent to each other, and thus “stacked”. For example, four cherry symbols will appear adjacent to each other on a reel to form a stack of four cherry symbols. Stacks of symbols are similarly formed on each of the reels in the reel gaming machine. In one known slot gaming device, if a stack of symbols is formed on a first reel, an identical stack of symbols is also formed on the other reels. Thus, when a gaming machine generates stacks of symbols that are identical on three or more adjacent reels, multiple winning symbol combinations can be formed and the gaming machine can provide large payouts to the player.
One known issue with using stacked symbols is if a reel generates a stack of symbols, the generated stack of symbols may block or otherwise prevent the formation of any winning symbol combinations. One prior art symbol stacking game with the blocking problem is illustrated in Prior Art FIG. 3, wherein a first reel (i.e., first reel on the left) generates a stack of cherry symbols, a second reel (i.e., second reel from the left) generates a stack of bar symbols, and a third reel (i.e., third reel from the left) generates a stack of cherry symbols. If at least three identical symbols must be generated along a payline to win an award, the stack of bar symbols prevents the formation of any winning symbol combinations including the cherry symbols. That is, the stack of bar symbols generated on the second reel blocked any of the cherry symbols in the first and third reels from forming any winning symbol combinations. The player therefore did not achieve a winning symbol combination on any of the wagered on paylines. Therefore, there is a need to provide greater volatility in multiple payline games while minimizing the effects of blocking.